For the first time, Harper will be performing on Christmas night at his Martini Club.

It's a first for the popular saloon singer/multi-instrumentalist, known around these parts as “Mr. Entertainment,” who is admittedly feeling thankful to be onstage this holiday season.

After his “widow-maker” heart attack May 10, Harper and his lovely wife, Annette, figured the jig was finally up (the singer had already suffered one heart attack).

He retired and turned Martini Club into a karaoke bar, but then made a much-anticipated return to the stage at a benefit Aug. 15. Soon, Harper was gingerly testing the waters on Wednesdays.

Harper's now back packing them in on weekends with drummer Phil Fisher and keyboardist Ernie Kreth. On Thanksgiving weekend, he even started playing trumpet again.

The decision for the comeback was as much financial as it was a burning desire to perform. Martini Club is synonymous with Wayne Harper.

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“It's a double-edged sword,” said Harper, 60. “What makes our bread and butter can also be taken away in a heartbeat, literally.”

But the romantic notion of dying onstage, doing what he loves, is no fantasy of his.

“To be honest, I think about it often when I'm getting into a song or playing my trumpet,” Harper said. “The thought is always in the back of my mind. Sometimes I'm thinking, ‘My heart could stop beating right now.'”

After nearly 21 years at Martini Club, Harper's special brand of oldies (an endless playlist of classic rock, country, Americana, blues and Las Vegas lounge) connects solidly with his regulars and is being rediscovered by college kids — yet again.

“Yeah, that's been happening frequently lately. I've noticed more comments when I come offstage and on my breaks with young people approaching me and saying, ‘Wow! When did you start playing here?'”

Harper will shut his nightclub down early Friday. Saturday, he'll play from 9:30 p.m.-1:30 a.m. There's no cover.

“People want to go out and do something on Christmas night rather as opposed to sitting around with Grandma and Grandpa by the fire,” Harper joked.